Joe Kopp race report from Las Vegas

I know that most of you are probably
thinking, man, I haven't gotten a race report from Joe for a few years
or more. Yep, you're right because as most of you know I retired (back
at the end of the 2010 season) from this full time grind of beating my
body up, as I have been trying to live on the safer side of the fence.
Most of you also know that I have usually competed at one GNC race a
year or so since I retired but I really didn't know if I was going to
compete in a GNC this year as I was just busy with too many other
things in life. Well then we had almost a two month break after our
last GNC race and I started thinking about maybe racing the finale
indoor shorttrack in Vegas. Yah, I was thinking about the same thing
that you probably are. Why would he want to race an indoor with those
crazy kids as those are the tracks that are usually referred to as
"bump to pass". So I thought it over for quite some time as I knew this
was my last opportunity to race a GNC this year but I also knew that I
did not want to really get involved in any bump to pass operation, as
those bumps hurt way more than they used to. Ok, truth be told, I
thought about it for a minute or two and said...... Ok, let's do this!

My first challenge was
that I had just sold my 450 Kawasaki dirt track bike a couple of weeks
earlier, so now I needed to find something to ride, and time was kind
of short as I only had a few weeks to build this new bike. I first
contacted our local Husqvarna dealer Empire Cycle in Spokane WA, as I
always like to try and prove something new and the Husky was a bike
that no one on the GNC circuit was racing. Before I knew it I was
bleeding White/Yellow & Blue (aka Husky colors). Right after I
got the new 450 Husky, I sent away the suspension to Davey Durelle at
Durelle Racing Products to have it lowered down for dirt track. Davey
has always done my suspension on my dirt track bikes and I knew he
would be my best bet for getting a new bike like this Husky dialed in
quick. There was no one out there racing a Husky on the GNC circuit so
I knew it was going to be a bit of a challenge getting this bike dialed
in as we had no one else to compare notes with, but those have always
been the types of challenges I have liked. Davey turned the suspension
around real fast and before I knew it I was down below at my place
putting in some laps with my son Kody on this new Husky! Did I say that
this Husky was bad to the bone right out of the box? Yah, it was
awesome. One thing I did notice though was that the power seemed to hit
a little too hard way down low for dirttrack purpose. So I did a bunch
of learning and trial and error with learning just how and when to turn
the power up or down on this bike with fuel and ignition settings
through the lap top. I'm no computer wiz, but I could tell through the
seat of my pants what these changes were doing and whether good or bad.
I didn't know what the track surface or shape was going to be at the
Vegas race so I made sure and rode this bike in all different types of
conditions at my track as mother nature controls it all on my track.
Some days it was dry and marbly which is no fun to ride on but I knew I
needed this experience with this new bike, then some days were perfect
moisture for a while, then some were colder than heck and slick so I'd
put on the insulated Carhart overalls and go put in some laps and at
the same time I always had the lap top out learning what was working
best in this certain condition. So yah, I was putting in the laps and
seat time and I felt like I had a pretty good handle on what this bike
would do in any situation. But when you are racing with the likes of
Baker, Mees, Smith, Coolbeth and others, you better have your ducks in
a row as they have been dialing in their bikes for the entire year or
more, and I knew this, but at the same time I thought hey, what better
place to play my odds than Vegas?

I knew that I kind of
wanted to catch the other racers off guard at this event but this I
knew is pretty hard to do as these guys were used to every head game in
the book, but I figured I'd give it a try anyway. So......, I knew that
anyone showing up on a different brand of bike that no one else was
using would cause some confusion. Checkmark. I also knew that having
this old guy #3 show up for the last race of the year on this different
brand of bike would really cause people to wonder why? Checkmark. And
then I wanted some very special parts and pieces on this bike that were
visual from the outside just to make them really start wondering what
was on the inside of this bike that they couldn't see. Checkmark.

So the last couple of
weeks or so of riding at home before this race I put in many laps and
by the time that I had to load up on Tuesday night, I felt that I had a
package that would maybe surprise some people in Vegas as I knew my
bike was ready and I knew I was ready. All I wanted was a fair shot at
this race like anyone else. I don't care what the lap timer says, as I
knew I had a bike that I could dial into whatever track situation there
was. I don't think I had ever felt so confident and ready rolling into
a race, especially with a brand new bike that I had never raced before.
ALOT of this confidence was due to my good friends George Latus and
Ross Bentley. Ross was my mental coach for many years that George was
nice enough to hook me up with way back when. I'm telling you racers,
that if you ever want to be mentally tough, come talk to me asap. There
are so many things that Ross has taught me that are like second nature
to me now with mental preparation. I promise you, it works! Thanks guys!

Fast forward to race
weekend in Vegas. This weekend in Vegas was supposed to be a little get
away vacation for my wife and I plus this was maybe going to be one of
my last GNC races of my career so I thought it'd be a blast to have her
there with me, just her and myself taking on the fast guys for one last
time. But then a day before we were supposed to take off DeeDee got
sick and could not make the trip. I was really bummed as we tried and
tried to get her down here the following day, but no luck. I was gonna
have to give this one last hurrah a shot myself without my pit tootsie
tuner in the back ground.

On Thursday night they
had a practice session for some of the road racer/SuperPrestigio guys,
so I went and watched them practice and we all got to see the track for
the first time. After watching them for a few laps I knew right away
that this was going to be my kind of track. The inside of the track was
shaped like a football with very pointed corners which would be very
technical which would cause for people making mistakes, and the surface
was very loose too. Tracks like that are fun for me because I consider
myself a smooth methodical rider and when people make mistakes, well
that makes for passing just in case you were to get a bad start. But I
wasn't planning on getting any bad starts, but just in case I did, I
had a plan.

I had a heck of a time
sleeping very good Thursday night because I was so excited for the next
days race as I really felt I had something for them. Well time finally
came around later on Friday as we all got unloaded into the pit area.
When you go to a GNC race as a spectator or helper you really don't get
to see all of the inside drama and such that goes on with racers or
crews trying to play head games with each other. It's kind of part of
the stuff that I used to deal with on a weekly basis at the races but
nowdays I'm usually not in the middle of it all. Well right away after
everyone got unloaded there were people mumbling around about my Husky.
That bikes not homoligated, those wheels aren't legal, that guy is too
old. LOL. No, but really they were complaining about my bike being
legal or not because it wasn't homoligated and that my carbon fiber
wheels weren't legal. I was thinking "Trust me guys, I looked into all
of this well before I ever started this build". But my plan was already
working as there were some people that were so worried with what I was
doing that they were not focusing on what they should be doing.
Checkmark. I don't think I had ever been so laid back before a GNC
national because I knew I had a package that was capable of getting the
job done, but I guess my biggest unknown was just how aggressive this
old #3 guy could still be in that first lap or two when you had to get
things done. The first turn and the entire first lap or so of a GNC
race when everyone is very close and throwing elbows at each other is
soooo important in a dirttrack race, especially an indoor race and I
was hoping these young guys would give me a little elderly respect on
the track, but then I knew that wasn't going to happen cuz they knew I
wasn't going to give it to them.

Practice was about to
get started and I was in the very last practice group, group 12. If you
remember all riders get three times on the track as our first one is
just a timed practice, then the last two sessions are timed qualifying.
I went and watched the first 8 groups or so and noticed that the track
was getting very rough right in the middle of both turns. That's normal
at some tracks that are a loose surface like this, but then lap times
get slower too, but oh well, I'm here to just have fun right?
I pulled onto the track for my first time and grabbed a handful of
throttle and the traction felt just like I had thought it looked like,
really good at least for my bike. Now it was time to have fun. By the
time my group got onto the track I could tell it was drier than I had
originally thought, so I quickly changed up my lines a little bit on
corner entry because I knew I couldn't afford to skate so much on
entry. As we get older we all start to think about little details so
much more than when we were younger, and with my racing and riding a
bike around a race track I have to admit that I think about the little
details way more than I ever did back then. What's that old
saying..."Oh, if I only knew then what I know now". After the
session was over I seen we were sitting second fastest overall for the
day. WOW. I was super happy with that but knew I still needed to stick
to my game plan, as I knew the other riders would be making adjustments
to get better as well. One of the biggest things I did all day was that
I kept taking power out of my bike. You can do that nowdays with the
magical touch of the lap top computer hooked up to your bike. Click,
click, and wallllaaa!

My next time on the
track I felt really good again but I dropped down to 12th fastest
overall, which I wasn't too worried about because my main goal was to
get a front row start for my heat race and I was well inside of that.
So I went back and really thought about what the bike was doing and if
I wanted to make any more changes. I made a few changes with the lap
top again and got ready for my last qualifier. In this last session I
picked up a few spots and came home 9th fastest. This would put me
second off pole in the last heat race with the new AMA GNC #1 Jared
Mees on pole. This should be fun!

Now it was finally time
for my heat race and did I mention that only the winner of each heat
race was going to transfer onto the main event, everyone else would
have to go to a Semi consolation race. With Jared on the inside pole I
knew I just needed a decent start as the holeshot would be nice but not
something I had to have as I felt like I had a bike that would be able
to get the job done if needed. So at the start I reminded myself to
stay aggressive and not let them push me around. Yah, easier said than
done on an indoor shorttrack. At the flash of the green light my bike
rocketed off the line and I felt like I had enough of a lead on Jared
to lean on him and pinch him off going into turn one. Well......that
thought quickly got erased as Jared and I tangled up going into turn
one, which in turn I was on the outside and I ended up going down and
getting ran over by my good friend Brain from Montana. Not Brian's
fault though. They quickly stopped the race and proceeded to pick Brian
and myself up. I could tell right away that my right side ribs and
right thigh were very sore, but they were still useable. LOL. Ok, so
now I have a back row starting spot for the restart of the heat race.
This is not what I worked so hard for in qualifying, but then this is
indoor racing and pretty much anything that can happen will happen on
these small tracks. On the restart I got a good start again (well as
good as can be from the back row) and as I came out of turn two on the
first lap I noticed that three of the guys on the front row were
banging bars and pushing each other wide down the back stretch. Bingo,
as that's what I wanted to see, and before I knew it I had snuck up
into the third spot. I then quickly worked my way past one rider and
set my sights on Jared out front. I was able to close the gap on Jared
and was glued to his rear wheel on the last few laps but I just could
not make a pass stick on him. Jared ended up getting the win with
myself 2nd, so onto the Semi I go.

For the semi I almost
felt like a robot as I knew my goal and I knew this was my last chance
to make it happen and I don't ever remember being worried about it.
Just go win the race and move onto the main event, simple as that. I
wish it was that easy. But I ended up getting the holeshot in my Semi
and then I proceeded to pull away from second place and I came home
with the win. Here we come main event!

As we lined up for the
main event I was still really relaxed and it's not the relaxed part
that confused me but just that there were so many things that I'd
normally be worrying or thinking about at this moment back in the day
and it's like I can't even remember having any of those thoughts in my
head. I think it's called mental preparation. But either way, I just
felt really comfortable with anything that happened, as I knew a good
finish would be awesome, but really just qualifying for this race was
really cool.

I lined up second off
pole on the second row as I had our Latus Motors Triumph rider Brandon
Robinson to my inside, with Sammy Halbert and Jake Johnson and others
to my outside. My plan was simple, get a good start and try to stay to
the inside for at least the first corner and see how many people of the
front row I can sneak under. At the flash of the green light I felt
like I got a good jump off the line, but as I went into turn one I felt
someone bump into the inside of me. Come to find out is was our rider
Brandon and he ended up going down in the deal. This kind of slowed
down my entry into turn one which let a couple of people go around the
outside of me. I stuck with my game plan to stay low and this worked
great as I got under a few people on the back stretch and by the time I
got to the end of lap one, I had worked my way up to the 4th spot.
Briar Bauman was leading, Sammy Halbert was 2nd, then Jared Mees and
myself, and all the guys behind us just wanted to knock ya down and
move forward, as that's almost what indoor racing is like with this
level of racers, well..... it's not as nice as that actually.

My Husky was working
very good but I could tell right away that corner entry was getting
very slick real fast and you had to be very careful not to overcharge
the turns, otherwise you'd loose some ground. I started working the
bottom side of Jared and within a lap I had snuck under him and moved
into the 3rd spot. Now Mr. Sammy Halbert was my next challenge.
Hmmmmm...... I knew that Sammy was about the roughest rider out there
on tracks like this and when ya throw a #3 plate in front of him I
think all he sees is blood. After a couple of laps I knew that I had it
working good enough to get by him, but I also knew that I needed to
split once by him so he would not have the opportunity to pounce back.
So I followed Sammy for a few laps and seen where he was riding and
made a plan, and my plan was to "Go fast, turn left" once by Sammy. But
no, actually I knew the track was getting drier and slicker and I knew
this would play to my advantage, so I very gently snuck underneath
Sammy around lap 6 or so, but by now Briar had built up a full straight
away lead. I knew it was time to put my head down and see what I could
do and for the first few laps we both held our own but a few laps later
I noticed that I was catching him fast as I had widdled it down to
about half a straight. Briar was going a bit wide in some areas and I
was hoping he would continue to do that because my low line felt really
slow, but the drier the track got the better it was working. I ended up
running out of time as I had made a big dent in his lead but to no
avail. Briar ended up coming home with the win and I finished 2nd with
Mees in 3rd. I was sure wishing my wife could have been here to
experience this with me as it was good times for sure!

I have to THANK my wife
and kids for helping me prepare for this race and for giving me the
extra confidence that we could do it. This was a very fun event for me
and a fun one to get ready for as I knew I had done my homework and it
paid off! To me 2nd place was as good as a win with these guys,
especially on an indoor track. It was just a huge group of supporters
that helped make this race happen. THANK YOU!